Jack’s Take: Indiana Deserves Playoff Spot, But Concerns Arise After Loss at Ohio State

Indiana should still make the College Football Playoff after Saturday’s 38-15 loss at No. 2 Ohio State. But if it wants to compete with the nation’s best, it must be able to protect quarterback Kurtis Rourke and be undeterred by crowd noise.

Ohio State defensive end JT Tuimoloau (44) sacks Indiana quarterback Kurtis Rourke (9). / Kyle Robertson/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Indiana coach Curt Cignetti and running back Ty Son Lawton agreed there was a clear turning point in Saturday’s 38-15 loss at No. 2 Ohio State.

With about 11 minutes left in the second quarter, the fifth-ranked Hoosiers led the Buckeyes 7-0 as they lined up for a crucial 3rd and 1 play. But before the ball was snapped, Ohio State defensive tackle Tyleik Williams shoved Indiana right guard Bray Lynch out of his stance and to the ground. Indiana left tackle Carter Smith clapped after picking up Lynch from the turf, and Lynch signaled with his hand for a first down. Everyone thought it was a penalty on Williams. 

However, officials blew the play dead for a false start penalty. 

“Williams gets away with one, Tyleik Williams, because he clearly jumped,” Joel Klatt said on the FOX broadcast. “You can see the sheepish grin on his face. You see that? He’s like, ‘I got away with one.’”

They announced it was on Indiana tight end James Bomba, but official stats from Ohio State and Indiana attribute the penalty to Lynch. That pushed the Hoosiers back to 3rd and 6, and Ohio State sacked Indiana quarterback Kurtis Rourke for an 11-yard loss.

“By all indications, they jumped offsides, which would have given us a first down,” Cignetti said. “But we got called for the penalty. I'm not sure they made the correct call. … From that point on, and really, I'm not saying the game would've been different on that call – that's not what I'm saying at all – that's where the game really changed. It was around that point.”

“That’s when everything kind of went downhill,” Lawton said.

After an Indiana punt, Ohio State scored five plays later and tied the game at 7-7. Indiana went three and out on its following possession, concluding with another sack. With 1:47 left in the half, Indiana punter James Evans dropped the snap and recovered for a turnover on downs, which set up Ohio State at the Indiana seven-yard line. The Buckeyes scored three plays later and took a 14-7 lead into halftime. 

Indiana’s offense went three and out to begin the second half, then suffered another killer special teams mistake. Evans’ punt was returned by Caleb Downs for a 79-yard touchdown, which gave the Buckeyes a 21-7 lead. Indiana could have been more competitive if it weren’t for the disastrous special teams plays, but the greater big-picture concern moving forward is its offense. 

The Hoosiers entered Saturday’s game averaging 453.2 yards per game and ranked second nationally in scoring at 43.9 points per game. Against Ohio State, it finished with season-lows of 151 total yards, 2.6 yards per play and 15 points. Indiana took an early 7-0 lead against Ohio State with a 70-yard drive, but it finished with 0 total yards in the second quarter, 36 in the third and 62 in the fourth.

“We couldn't protect the quarterback,” Cignetti said. “We had communication errors in pass pro. Every time we dropped back to pass something bad happened. It seemed like we were in that end zone to our left for nine years. It was like a nightmare.” 

Indiana’s second worst output in those categories came in its previous game against Michigan, when it finished with 20 points, 246 yards and 4.4 yards per play.  During its first nine games of the season, Indiana had seven games with over 400 yards of total offense and four games with over 500. It also scored over 30 points in all nine games and racked up 40-plus points seven times. 

Ohio State sacked Rourke five times and pressured him throughout the day. That led to his worst game of the season by far. Rourke completed just 8-of-18 passes for 68 yards, no touchdowns and a fumble. That marked his lowest completion percentage by 16.3% and his fewest passing yards in a full game by 138. It was also his first game without a touchdown pass. 

Rourke said he needs to do a better job of recognizing where the blitzes are coming from and where to go with the ball, as well as protecting the ball when he’s hit. But he dismissed the idea that Indiana would throw away any part of its offense after Saturday’s game, because he trusts the scheme and his teammates. 

“You gotta be close to perfect to beat a team like this, and we're gonna have a chance to play a lot of similar teams like this,’’ Rourke said. “So knowing that we can't have these mistakes and we gotta be on our game for the whole game, it's a learning opportunity. But gotta be able to move on now and not have any more learning opportunities.’’

Some of this drop-off should have been expected. Ohio State is by far the best defense Indiana has faced, and Michigan has a good case for being the second best. Both have NFL talent along the defensive line, and Indiana played both games without starting left guard Drew Evans, who’s out for the season with an achilles injury.

Indiana used a silent count for the first time in a game all season at Ohio State, although it had used it in practice. Cignetti said the Buckeyes’ blitzes were nothing Indiana hadn’t seen and practiced leading up to the game. But that didn’t mean the Hoosiers could handle it.

“I think you couple it with the noise and having to go to a silent count – the center couldn't hear – and the speed of which they do it at, compared to our scout team, the pressure of the moment, our guys just didn't respond very well,” Cignetti said. “Sometimes we had missed assignments, sometimes we had communication errors, sometimes we got physically beat, but it wasn't very pretty.”

“I thought we'd be able to handle it with our normal cadence based on the reports that we had gotten. Some of the linemen could hear, but the center couldn't. We had to go silent. It wasn't a problem. We had the ball snapped.’’

Lawton said Ohio State was rotating its linebackers to a point where Indiana thought the blitz was coming from one area, but then it would come from the other side. He also thinks the crowd noise Indiana practices with is louder than the fans were at Ohio Stadium, but Ohio State was able to time up Indiana’s silent count.

“I don’t think the [noise] affected us at all, but I feel like Ohio State was catching onto our silent cadence and they were jumping it every time. So I feel like it affected us in that part,” Lawton said. 

“I was on the sideline, I was telling them I feel like we could’ve just delayed [the silent count] a second or two longer. … Because our silent cadence, they were catching onto our silent cadence. So it was easy for them to jump the snap. I don’t really feel like – [the noise] probably affected us once. We got a false start one or two times, but I don’t really think it affected us in that aspect of it, but more so like them knowing when we were gonna snap the ball, due to the silent counts.”

Rourke and the offensive line have played well all season, to the point that Rourke entered the Heisman Trophy conversation and the line graded No. 17 nationally in run blocking and No. 30 in pass blocking. But Saturday's loss at Ohio State shows that Indiana still has a ways to go to compete with the nation’s best teams. Still, it shouldn’t knock Indiana out of the College Football Playoff, and early projections say it won’t, assuming it takes care of business against Purdue. 

ESPN still gives the Hoosiers a 97.7% chance to make the playoffs. CBS and The Athletic gave Indiana the No. 9 seed in its latest bracket, setting up a road game against No. 8 Notre Dame in the first round. ESPN put the Hoosiers as the No. 11 seed, facing No. 6 seed Penn State on the road.

If either of those matchups come true – and several other situations would apply, too – Indiana has to make a few key adjustments. At the top of that list is its ability to handle a loud road environment and a strong defensive line, two things the Hoosiers would face at Penn State or Notre Dame.

Related stories on Indiana football

• GAME STORY: The story from Ohio Stadium as the No. 5 Hoosiers fall to the No. 2 Buckeyes 38-15 on Saturday. CLICK HERE.

• THEY DAY AFTER: No. 5 Indiana got humbled in Columbus, but the Hoosiers got a lot of help in the College Football Playoff picture. CLICK HERE

• MY TWO CENTS: One loss does not wipe out Indiana's playoff worthiness. CLICK HERE.

• TODD'S TAKE: Ohio State took Indiana seriously and the Hoosiers paid a heavy price. CLICK HERE.

• EVERYTHING CURT CIGNETTI SAID: Curt Cignetti's comments to the media after Indiana's 38-15 loss to Ohio State on Saturday. CLICK HERE.

• WHAT KURTIS ROURKE SAID: What the Indiana quarterback said after Indiana's loss to Ohio State on Saturday. CLICK HERE.